


Fate Keeps Twisting

by Sroloc_Elbisivni



Series: Team Two Dads AU [2]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU of S1, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe- Canon, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 10:25:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5536388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sroloc_Elbisivni/pseuds/Sroloc_Elbisivni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry Allen drops by the CCPD station the night STAR labs activates the particle accelerator.</p><p>(An AU of Season 1 where Henry was never convicted)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fate Keeps Twisting

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation in the series begun in "A Twist of Fate," which can be found by going further back in the series. If you haven't read that, all you need to know is that Henry was at the hospital the night Nora was murdered, which meant that he had an airtight alibi and stayed out of prison. Joe West strongarmed him into moving in after he demonstrated a complete lack of basic self-care abilities, and however many years later of happy, successful co-parenting they are now in a relationship, although that isn't really mentioned. Barry and Iris are also in a relationship, mostly because at some point both pairs set out to matchmake each other in a set of highly amusing shenanigans I will write out later.  
> This is the first part of what might be continued to cover all of season 1, and stretches from the pilot to an unspecified time after "The Things You Can't Outrun." I am not seeking to rewrite the entirety of every episode, so this will just be snippits.

Henry Allen drops by the police station the night Star Labs launches the particle accelerator.

He’s used to getting calls from the police station about Barry, of course, but usually, they’re the kind that means he has to bring someone lunch or dinner. Or Joe just wants to complain about him being late for the dozenth time that month.

Both of those are preferable to hearing that his son has been  _mugged_.

It’s a source of immense relief to see when he gets there that the only sign of injury is Barry with his head tipped back and a tissue pinched to his nose.

“Hey, Slugger. Haven’t I told you that if you do that, the blood could irritate the trachea and cause vomiting?” Henry asks, clapping him on the back.

“Yeah, well, I haven’t thrown up yet,” Barry groans, tossing the tissue aside. “Also, you’ve been calling me that since I was eleven, but I think this is the most inappropriate time you’ve ever used it.”

“Hey, Henry,” Iris offers, cheerfully. “What’s up?”

“I feel like I should be asking you that. What happened?”

“We were at STAR labs to watch the particle accelerator come online—”

“Which, geekiest date  _ever_.”

“Hey,  _you_ agreed to go—and someone stole Iris’s bag with her dissertation in it. I chased him, but he hit me with the bag and got away—”

“And  _that’s_  when ‘Detective Pretty Boy’ nabbed him.” Iris hooks a thumb towards a desk where a guy whose face Henry doesn’t recognize is sitting.

“The transfer from Keystone?” he asks, because no one who lives in the same house as Joe West could fail to hear about his irritation with the newest arrival to the CCPD.

“That’s the one,” Iris confirms. “He wasn’t wrong about the ‘pretty boy’ part. Oh, stop  _pouting_ , Barry, I know you’re thinking it too.”

“ _Iris!”_

Henry laughs at Barry’s spluttering as only a father who placed bets with his partner about when their son would realize his bisexuality can.

“Sorry you ended up missing the activation. And I guess it’s too late to go now—do either of you want a ride home?”

Iris jumps on the offer immediately, but Barry mumbles something about “work” and heads off to his lab after kissing Iris on the cheek.

They only get halfway home before a call comes in from the station. Detective Beckett’s voice is frantic and Henry only catches the words  _Barry_  and  _ambulance_  before he’s making an illegal U-turn and heading straight for the hospital.

Henry knows the regulations about conflict of interest that mean he can’t be in there with his son better than anyone else, but as he watches Barry’s heart stop and his son die over and over, he hates them more than anything else.

 ----------------------

(Iris West brings Eddie Thawne a cup of coffee to thank him for covering her father’s shifts. He always asks her about Barry whenever he sees her, and the two of them become friends. Nothing else.

She thinks about it, sometimes, but knows that it’s a discussion she is not having without Barry.)

 ----------------------

Henry likes to think that he knows his son pretty well. He’d also  _really_  like to think that nine months in a coma isn’t enough to radically alter his personality too much.

So when Barry starts acting twitchy after he comes to see him, Henry keeps his eyes out.

The situation with Clyde Mardon is wildly insane, but Joe’s behavior in the aftermath is good old-fashioned suspicious.

He has a chat with Iris, and while she agrees that both of them are acting weird, she doesn’t know any more than he does. He takes the first crack at figuring it out in the same way he’s always used to try and figure out what Barry gets up to—calling him at odd hours of the day and hoping that something slips.

One thing he notices is that Barry rarely has his phone on him nowadays, and when he does answer he's usually out of breath, and his excuses have gotten way wilder. There’s also the ridiculous amount of food he’s started consuming and the way Joe’s complaints have gotten more frequent and more evasive at the same time.

He’ll gripe about Barry being late to work, or distracted, or even more embarrassing than usual, but when Henry asks for specifics, oh, suddenly there’s a very interesting game on, or what he did wasn’t that important anyways, or oh gee, did you see this thing in the paper, isn’t that nuts.

Eventually, Henry runs out of patience and gets Iris’s help to get Joe and Barry in the same room together under the pretext of a family dinner.

“Okay, you two, what’s going on?” He puts on his best "I am your doctor and you better not even  _think_  about lying to me" face.

“Going on? What’s going on? Nothing’s going on, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Joe looks like he wants to put his face in his hands. Henry can’t blame him. The last time he saw Barry acting this guilty and suspicious was when he and Iris conspired to get him and Joe dating.

“Yeah, nice try.”

“Look at it this way, gentlemen.” Iris folds her hands in front of her. “Either you admit you respect and trust us enough to tell us what you both have been up to and do it now, or we go looking and figure it out on our own.”

“I think you can guess which way ends better for you.” Henry crosses his arms and leans back, ready to wait them out.

Barry, predictably, breaks first.

There are more than a few other things broken by the end of the evening, but they do all sit down and eat dinner together. And Iris only threatens to stab Barry with a fork after he tries to filch her food a few times.

\--------------- 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” Barry tells him afterwards, when it’s just the two of them at the table. “I just…the only other thing like this I’d ever seen was the night…”

“…the night Nora died,” Henry finishes for him, looking away. “You said you saw lightning.”

“I  _did_ , Dad, look—I’ve been trying to tell you about the impossible since I was  _eleven_ , and now I  _am_  that impossible. I didn’t—I didn’t know if you’d even  _believe_  me,  _I_  can—can barely believe it, and even if you did…”

Barry, choked, cuts off and Henry realizes why he’s so upset.

“Barry,” he says, softly, urgently. “You are  _not_  the man who killed your mother. Do you hear me?”

“I  _know_  that—”

“I know. I just needed to make sure you know—” and here he reaches out to put a hand on Barry’s shoulder. “—how very  _proud_  I am of you.”

And with that, Barry looks up, and his eyes are wide, and Henry wishes he could have said this earlier.

“But—you and Iris, both of you, were so angry at me and Joe—”

“Because I’m terrified that you’re going to get yourself killed, and upset that you didn’t feel like you could trust me enough to tell me sooner. But, Barry—all the people you’ve saved, the criminals you’ve stopped—you’re a  _hero_ , Barry.”

“I—no, you don’t even know, I’m still trying to figure this out and I’ve screwed up so much. I don’t even know if I can  _do_  this.”

Henry nods, and waits. “So, you screwed up, huh?”

Barry exhales, and buries his head in his hands. “Yeah. So much.”

“But you’re still doing this.”

“…yes?”

Henry shrugs and leans back. “Then I’d say you’re doing pretty good.”

Barry raises his head and looks at him suspiciously.

“No matter what you do in life, you’re never gonna get it right the first time. What matters is that you keep trying.” He gives Barry a very pointed look. “And that you never keep a secret this big from me again.”

“I didn’t want to put you in danger…if, if someone figured out my identity…”

“If someone figured out your identity and came after me, I would be in more trouble if I had no clue what was going on. The same holds true for Iris. I mean it, Barry. I’m in your life, I want to help as much as I can. Don’t keep things from me.”

Barry sighs. “I won’t. I promise.”

“Good.” Henry pushes back his chair and stands up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go yell at Joe some more. See you tomorrow. Good luck with Iris.”

He gets a small bit of sadistic joy he will never admit to out of Barry's panicked expression. 

**Author's Note:**

> How much rage do I have at the "let's not tell Iris to protect her" situation? SOOOOO much.  
> [I have a Tumblr!](http://www.sroloc--elbisivni.tumblr.com) Come say hi and talk to me about this AU because I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS.  
> Merry Christmas, all those who celebrate it, and a Happy New Year nonetheless.  
> Oh, and yes, Detective Beckett is a name cameo from Castle.


End file.
